Josie
“It’s…beautiful.”
Lanie’s voice is filled with awe as she stares at our creation. And I can’t blame her.
Blankets and pillows and fairy lights crisscross across the entire bedroom, creating what has turned out to be less of a fort and more a magical land of make-believe. Auntie Gray’s bed with the pretty canopy serves as the linchpin, anchoring the blankets and adding an upper “level” to our fort. The various stuffed animals Lanie’s managed to collect during her stay here at the cabin are scattered around the structure, along with the llama Uncle Dane gave me and so many pillows I briefly wonder how many of our uncles will be going to bed without any support tonight.
But I don’t care. Because our fort isfabulous.
A knock on the door drags my attention away from the glorious creation in front of me. “No boys allowed!” Lanie and I yell together.
It’s become a bit of a mantra for us. Our Daddies and the other uncles have tried to “check on us” multiple times during the fort’s construction, and each time we’ve sent them packing.
But this time, Auntie Gray just grins and reaches for the door handle. “I think we can allow this boy in.”
She opens the door and Uncle Eli steps inside, holding a tray full of snacks. And not just healthy snacks, either. While there are a few bits of green on the tray, mostly it’s covered with cookies and cakes and colorful candy and even my favorite gourmet chocolates. “Room service!” Uncle Eli announces with an uncharacteristic smile as he carries the tray over to our fort.
“Jesus, Eli, when I said, ‘bring snacks’ I didn’t mean enough sugar to choke a horse.” But despite her scolding words, Auntie Gray is eyeing the tray in Uncle Eli’s hands with the same longing I feel.
“It’s a sleepover,” Uncle Eli says by way of explanation as he sets the tray down in the fort. “And these are sleepover snacks. Don’t think I’ve forgotten how you and Josie used to sneak into the kitchen when you were younger. This should keep you out of my way the rest of the night.”
The last is said in warning and I instinctively shove my hands behind me to protect my bottom. “Yes, Uncle Eli.”
Rising up to his full height again, he grunts, but there’s a hint of a smile on his lips. “Good girl. Make sure you keep Lanie out of my kitchen too, or you’ll both be feeling my spoon on your bottoms.”
With that dire warning, he leaves us alone with Auntie Gray, who grins and rubs her hands together. “All right, little ones. We have a fort. We have snacks. Let’s get you girls changed into your jammies and pick a movie.”
She produces a nightgown for each of us from somewhere, which means she either raided our nurseries herself or our Daddies have been in on this from the beginning. The latter thought has my chest swelling with mixed emotions as my former bestie pulls my nightgown down over my head.
“There we go.” Beaming, Auntie Gray steps back and gestures to the entrance of the fort. “In you go, little ones.”
Squealing with excitement, Lanie all but dives into the fort. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and a giggle bubbles up inside me as I follow her inside.
It really is magical. Like our own little world, completely separate from the rest of the house. From all the bad things that have happened to me ever since I saw Bennett Kincaid in that candy store.
Maybe it is. Maybe this is some fairy realm where, for at least one night, I can just let myself… be. Without worrying about escape, without stressing over how to find an ally in town without getting them killed. For this one night, I can just be a girl spending the night with her friends.
Auntie Gray joins us a few moments later, carrying a laptop, which she sets up opposite the wall of pillows Lanie and I are currently nestled against. “All right, babygirls. I promised your Daddies I wouldn’t keep you uptoolate, so one movie and then it’s bedtime.”
Lanie and I both immediately launch into whining protests that Auntie Gray shuts down with a look. “If you’d prefer, we can put the snacks up and you can both go to bed now.”
Well, neither of us wants that, so we both promise to be good. “Much better,” Auntie Gray says as she leans forward to hit play on the movie. A picture face fills the screen and a squeal slips past my lips.
“Princess Bride!”
“Our favorite.” Grinning, Auntie Gray loops an arm around my shoulder and pulls me close to press a kiss to my hair. “I decided it was time to introduce Lanie to the perfect movie.”
“Oh my god, you’ve never seenPrincess Bride? You aresoin for a treat. I wish I could watch it for the first time again.”
For an hour and a half, I am a child again, watching my favorite movie with my favorite person in the whole world while we gorge ourselves on sweets. Storming the castle, rescuing the princess, fighting horrible princes and rodents of unusual size. Auntie Gray and I can quote nearly every line of the movie and even though it’s Lanie’s first time it isn’t long before she’s gasping in shock and squealing at all the romantic parts.
It is, hands down, the best ninety minutes of my life in nearly twenty years.
When the credits roll, Auntie Gray heaves the most contented sigh I think I’ve ever heard. “God I love that movie. I haven’t watched it since…”
The implication hangs heavy in the air and I press myself closer to her. “Me neither.”
“Really?”
